More Criminal Terms Defined

Jailhouse Lawyer – A prison inmate who gives legal advise to other inmates.

Judicial Notice – When a criminal court accepts a well-known and indisputable fact without requiring the lawyer to prove it. (The trial court took judicial notice of the fact that government offices are closed on Christmas)

Jurisdiction – A court’s power to decide a case or issue a decree. (Criminal Circuit Court has jurisdiction over felony criminal cases)

Juris Doctor – Also known as J.D. It means Doctor of law and is the law degree given by American law schools.

Jury – A group of people selected according to law and they are given the power to decide questions of fact and return a verdict in the case submitted to them.

Jury Instruction – A guideline that a judge gives a jury concerning the law of the case.

Jury Nullification – A jury’s intentional rejection of the evidence or refusal to apply the law. Juries do this because they want to send a message about some social issue that is bigger than the case itself or because the result dictated by the law is somehow unjust.

Juvenile Delinquent – A child (minor) who is guilty of criminal charges and is punished by special juvenile laws that do not apply to adults.